


this beautiful opus

by whatcaniwriteinthis



Series: kurotsukki week (and a half) 2016 [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Extended Metaphors, M/M, Magic, Metaphors, No Dialogue, Poetic, its magic man what else can there be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-20 03:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7388488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatcaniwriteinthis/pseuds/whatcaniwriteinthis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo Tetsurou does not trust magic. He prefers the steadiness of science- the surety that comes from a perfectly executed chemistry experiment or the laws of physics that bind them all. He prefers this steady study of their world to the chaos of spells and potions and curses.</p><p>And then he meets Kei.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this beautiful opus

**Author's Note:**

> for kurotsukki week (and a half) days 5 and 6: fantasy

Kuroo Tetsurou does not trust magic. He prefers the steadiness of science- the surety that comes from a perfectly executed chemistry experiment or the laws of physics that bind them all. He prefers this steady study of their world to the chaos of spells and potions and curses.

Tetsurou does not trust magic but he has learnt to adapt to the world around him. He has learnt to adjust to the streaks of neon colour across the sky; the dances of light passing through the bus; the slashes of curses thrown across the lawn between dueling teenagers. He ignores magic to the best of his ability, and it ignores him, to the best of its own.

Of course, there’s only so much magic he can ignore. Kozume Kenma is Tetsurou’s best friend, possibly the only reason he’s still a functioning adult human being, and also the most magic being in Tetsurou’s life. He loves him nonetheless- but Kenma’s magic is loud and omnipresent, sparks shooting from fingers, and plants growing towards them wherever they go. A part of Tetsurou can admire this power of theirs; but at the same time, it scares him. He trusts Kenma without a doubt- but he can’t trust everyone’s control on their magic.

And then he meets Kei; Tsukishima Kei, who radiates magic like the Sun radiates heat. Tetsurou meets Kei, all fierce glares and sharp angles and sparks lighting from within his amber eyes. Tsukishima Kei is a beautiful creature of magic- neither witch nor wizard nor sphinx nor any other magical being Tetsurou knows of. But he is magical- Tetsurou can see it in the gentle slope of his shoulders, in his amber eyes, in his long fingers that spin and create sparks that then dance in front of Tetsurou’s face like they’re alive.

Tetsurou hates him immediately.

Kei is everything Tetsurou distrusts in magic- the instability, the unpredictability, the emotional aspect of this whole mess. Science is predictable. Science is reliable. Magic is not. Magic evades quantification. Tetsurou hates it all, so he throws barb after barb at Kei, defending science and its organized laws from magic and its emotional chaos. Kei gives back as good as he get, throwing clever insults that somehow manage to show Tetsurou the wonder magic can draw out of people.

Tetsurou falters in his relentless campaign for one beautiful moment. Kei swells, believing to have finally broken past Tetsurou’s walls.

Then Tetsurou resists. He refuses to be amazed by Kei’s magic- or any other magic. Tetsurou stands by his science, and the control is lends him.

Kei refuses to give in. He stands by his magic, and the beauty in unorganization and the freedom it lends him.

And so they continue to fight.

Kei curses him to only be able to speak German for a week.

Tetsurou, in retaliation, laces Kei’s shampoo with pink hair dye.

They resist each other’s side for a long while, tugging and shoving sparks and chemicals into each other’s faces, dancing around something much more complicated than either of them can imagine- but they feel it’s presence. It’s not something one can ignore.

There’s only so long you can hate someone, only so long before you slide into the endless flat plane of indifference or the grudging pit of reluctant acceptance. Lucky for Tetsurou, though he might not believe in such an unscientific concept, they fall together into acceptance.

Tetsurou asks Kei if he can keep his new found knowledge of German. Kei creates a spell that lets him does exactly that. Tetsurou lets him cast it.

Kei keeps doesn’t dye his hair back. When the dye starts to fade, he re-does it to a soft strawberry pink. Tetsurou’s heart flutters when he sees it.

Then, slowly, Tetsurou begins to love magic. He watches Kei cast spells; spells that heal a little girl’s scraped knee; spells that call down a cat from a tree; spells that transform a dying plant into a beautiful, blossoming bush.

At Kei’s insistence Tetsurou watches Kenma too, watches them properly- for the first time, instead of out of the corner of his eye as he usually did. He watches them create sparks, that shoot out of his finger tips and ears, watches them light fires that never burn their palms where they cradle it like one would a baby, watches the plants in their tiny apartment glow brighter and grow faster whenever they walk past. Tetsurou watches his childhood friend properly for the first time in what might be years, and he sees a lot and realizes a lot.

Kenma is a fierce magic- a loud cacophony of light and sound and sparks; a fierce contrast to the quiet person they are. Tetsurou knows this- and maybe the ferocity of Kenma’s magic was the wrong place to start. Maybe he should have started with Kei; soft yet sharp Kei.

Kei is a softer type of magic than Kenma- less intense, less of an explosion and more of a rapid blooming of a multi-coloured flower. So Tetsurou watches him instead.

He watches smiles tug at the corner of his mouth, the colourful light dancing across the ceiling as he swirls his arms around each other and then throws them up so the rays of light scatter outwards and then flutter downwards like a feather, disappearing before they touch the ground. Tetsurou watches all of this, mouth slightly parted, wondering how he could ever have hated this beautiful opus, this chaotic clashing of light and sound and beauty.

Magic might not have the organization that Tetsurou’s science does, but it has beauty of its own.

Then, all at once, Tetsurou falls in love with Kei. He falls in love with the gentle slope of his shoulders; the mischief in his amber eyes that reflect the sparks from his magic; his long fingers that carefully craft and create; his harsh but caring personality- Tetsurou loves it all.

This- this is something science cannot quantify. This is a disorganized chaos of emotion erupting in Tetsurou’s chest. This is everything Tetsurou thought he hated, stemming from Tsukishima Kei, who radiates magic- the one thing Tetsurou thought he hated the most in the world- like the Sun radiates heat, like nothing Tetsurou has ever experienced.

And Kei loves him back. He says as much, between fervent kisses and Tetsurou feels his heart stop, feels as if he’ll burst- all at once.

Science gives Tetsurou structure, but magic- and Kei, beautiful Kei- give him freedom.

**Author's Note:**

> cheesy modern magic au? man, what else was i gonna write?


End file.
